Friday, July 05, 2013

The Giants-Reds game was postponed yesterday, giving them a temporary respite from their recent run of two wins in their last 13 games, including a recently-completed 1-8 road trip (which included a three-game sweep in Los Angeles).

Earlier, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that Howard had landed in Los Angeles and contacted the Lakers, telling them he was 50-50 on his decision to sign with either them or the Rockets.

Howard's call to the Lakers came hours after a person from his camp informed the team that he would not re-sign with Los Angeles, according to the source.

"He changed his mind," the source said. "Hey, he's Dwight. What can you say."

The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Thursday, the lone run coming when A's catcher Derek Norris bolted home on a passed ball thrown by Cubs pitcher Matt Guerrier in the seventh inning.

A 1-0 game in itself is fairly unusual, but a 1-0 game where the only run scored on a passed ball? That's far more rare. Leave it to Elias Sports Bureau to sleuth out the last time — and it's a really cool fact.

Such a game last occurred 20 years ago — to the exact day. Yep, on July 4, 1993, in a Los Angeles Dodgers-Montreal Expos game. That game was even more dramatic, as the Dodgers won on a passed ball in the 11th inning.